Role-playing, the basics
A guide to simple things on role-playing. If you already have experiance with role-playing, and want information on creating role-plays, check the "Advanced Role-Playing Guide". Basics To begin with, you should know the answer to the most basic question of "What is role-playing anyway?" '' Role-playing is a very simple thing to do but it can give a limetless amount of fun and amusement. Role-playing is a lot like acting, you fill a role and act it out. You have already role-played before if, as a little kid, you've ever played pretend. Perhaps you jumped around pretending to be Super Mario, maybe you tried being a knight, this is the most basic essence of role-playing. So, how does one role-play? *You first must create a character, like in a play. Then you must use Shakespeare's philosophy and actually '''BE '''that character. You must think about his/her personality, how they would act, what they would do. You must slowly stop re-acting to things the way ''you would and re-act the way the character would. ''Character creation'' So you know a little about role-playing at this point. You know the "What" of it. However, little, if any, role-playing can be done without a character to role-play with! So heres 10 simple steps to creating a charecter AND a small outline. (The same steps can be used to create a charecter in a written story). Step 1 *''Think of a name''. Don't make it outlandish (unless you WANT too) and try to make it somewhat interesting. Bob wouldn't exactly be awe inspiring but jironkasashlybakashion would be far too much. For one thing, no one could spell that name, not to mention pronounce or remember it. Center your name around the role-play, if possible. If the role-play takes place in a medival town a name like "Gareth" or "Marth" might be a good idea. For somthing more modern think of commen names. Also, try to NOT use your real name, remember that your thinking like a charecter and not yourself. Step 2 *''Add some personality!'' Now that your amazing charecter has a name, what is he/she like? Do they enjoy talking to people? No? They jump down people's throats with advice and bad insults? Well, remember that! Your charecter is not in extention of you, he is now his own person, with a separate personality to go. Make sure that his personality doesn't clash with some aspects of his person. For example, a very friendly and just charecter would probally NOT be evil (unless he is insane). Step 3 *''Make the charecter a history. Even if the history is a secret, you should be able to know it yourself. Questions such as "Where did he spend his childhood?" "Were his parents kind to him?" "Was he in the military, into magic, a politician, is he an electrician?" Should be immediatly answerable. Though charecters can be made on the spot for one hundred percent fun role-plays, a history gives your charecter far more depth, if only because it makes it seem like he didn't materialize out of nothing. Make your history come up to the present time, but don't go into excessive detail unless you really want to. Step 4 *''Age and Gender. ''This shouldn't be a hard step, however, a lot of people have trouble here. Many people want to try acting like a very gifted 4 year old, or a retired but powerful 72 year old warrior. Charecters like this simply arn't relatable or very likely. For example, a gifted 4 year old might be smart, but emotionaly they would act 4. Full out battles, or even more diplomatic settings, arn't good for someone who is struggleing to overcome the fear of shadows. Likewise, someone excessivly old, no matter how skilled, will simply be unable to do any manual labour. The charecter would also probally be sickly. However, by all means, you may make charecters like this, I'm just suggesting to gather experince with role-playing before attempting to role-play with such finicky charecters! The most common cages are between 20-50. Gender is more simple. Having a charecter of an opposite gender often makes role-playing more challenging and rewarding. Some people also role-play with charecters with same gender orientation, although challenging I wouldn't recommend this simply because most people will feel excessivly uncomfortable with your charecter. Step 5 *''Appearances do matter. ''What does your charecter look like? Does he have vividly green coloured here? Does he wear robes? Is he a muscle man or someone a lot more slim. Does he take long strides? Does he have a friendly face, or a stern face created from hardships? Apparances will say alot about your charecter, but make sure they relate with his other aspects, like personality and history. A sage who works at a magical academy will not look like an evil knight. Make appareances suitable, though an odd apparence is never out of the question! Part Two of the guide, Now that you have an idea of a charecter in your head (age,gender,personality, apparence, where he came from and where he is now) it's time for you to look deeper into your charecter. The steps below will make him into a more real person. These steps also assist you in what to do with this new charecter. Step 6 *''Keep your charecter IN-CHARECTER. ''A powerful barbarian warrior wouldn't exactly be wearing fluffy pink ribbons and be kind to enemies. Nor, would an empathectic charecter shoot an annoying person while laughing diabolically. Also, relating to '''you' don't forget that your in charecter. If your talking as yourself put some sort of symbol that indicates that your no longer talking as a charecter. Example below. player 1, miranda, "Aaron, do you know where I can get some medicine for my little brother? player 2, Aaron, "Yes, the store down the street sells cough syrup, I think. Theres also the doctors office, I can walk you there if you'd like or write out directions?" player 1, no longer playing as miranda, "((Hey, steve, I'v got to leave now, sorry. I have to do some errands and housework, see you some other time?))" player 2, no longer playing as Aaron, "((for sure, bye! I'll be on Tuesday for awhile, try to make it then! =D))" Notice that when the players wern't role-playing they used brackets to encase their words. The role-play was ended as soon as they both left, but the brackets minimize confusion, be sure to pay attention to symbols that other people in role-plays use. Don't be afraid to ask questions! Step 7 *''Your charecter doesn't know everything!'' If your charecter is a farmer in a medivil style role-play and dark knights apprehend him and his family in the middle of the night, the farmer is not going to annihilate the knights with dark magic. Likely, a homeless man is probally not going to know the internal going ons of Russia. Step 8 *''A personality is a bind. ''How does your charecter react to new scenarios? A kind hearted, gentle and forgiving princess is not going to roar and rush into battle with a spiked mace. Likewise, the same princess is not going to see a begger on the street and spit on them, laughing at their life outcome. Remember, Roleplaying is all about fun, but a lot of that fun comes from playing your character and developing them as a person. Developing your charecter helps you to forget about the real world for just a little while, while your charecter seems to come to life. Step 9 *''Your charecter is mortal. ''It's NOT acceptable in most role-plays to have an invinceble charecter. If your charecter always has ground of other people because they are completly ridiculous or because they have powers equivalent to superman you've gone to far. You may realize that your having probloms making role-playing friends and you may have trouble finding people to role-play. Remember to make your charecter with weaknesses. Accept the fact that, pushed too far, you must realize that your beloved charecter may die. If you don't want your charecter to die, don't put him in the most dangerous circumstances. Step 10 ''You need to start, somewhere. ''Now its time for you to look around at where you'd like to role-play. Try a role-playing group, forum, or clan (on sites that support such things). Forums are the most heavily story filled, simply because its like writing a story with many different veiw points. Role-playing groups often play in multiplayer games. The games may limet some aspects of the role-play, since they may not have been designed for the activity. Nontheless, it helps to add a more visual aspect to the role-play, and with some imagination the role-play can become alot like a movie. The last steps, Practise! Role-playing is a lot like an art, you get better as you practise it. Accept critism, but not if its horrible, unhelpful adivce. When told that you utterly suck at role-playing, politely ask what you can do to improve. Accepting the advice will help out in the long run. Check your grammer. You might not have perfect grammer, but try to improve. If your grammer is horrible, make an effort to improve and people will respect you for that. Don't be lazy and "tlk lk dis" because its very frusterating trying to decipher these sentences. In role-plays that use headphones and speakers don't have loud noises in the backround and be sure to not have a robotic voice. Be vivid in your personality, but NEVER become angry at someone personally. And lastly, role-playing is co-operative. There should not be secrets in a role-play. Having a hush-hush plan is okay, if EVERYONE has been told of it. Your charecters should have no idea of the plan, however. Role-playing Terminology To role-play, you need to know some gab. If someone yells "stop God-Modding!" You need to know what they mean. OOC: "Out of Character". This is often used to refer to a time when somebody is talking as themselves, instead of as their character. This is often represented by using double brackets for example; (( Hey guys what CC should we join for this? )) You should try and make it clear when you are talking OOC to avoid confusing everybody. RP; "Roleplaying". Simply the shorthand way of saying Roleplaying. IC: "In Character". Pretty much the opposite of OOC, IC refers to when somebody is speaking as their character and not as themselves. People assume this is how you are speaking by default. An example of how it is used might be; (( Hey Josh did you just say that IC or not? I couldn't tell...)) Godmodding: "God Mode/God Modding". This is when a player is roleplaying an obscenely powerful character who cannot be hurt and instantly kill anybody. It's generally seen as a very newbish and rude thing to do. GM/DM: "Game Master/Dungeon Master". These terms were coined in the days of Tabletop Roleplaying like Dungeons & Dragons. They generally refer to the person(s) running the RP and controlling events. Often they are allowed to do things normal players aren't to progress the story (if there is one). Bio: "Biography". Generally this refers to a post on the forums that details your character. Not every RP needs one, but some may ask for one as a requirement to join. Often they provide a template for you to fill out details about your character. Autohit: "Automatically Hitting". If somebody fights you in a Roleplay and never lets you defend yourself, or similar, then they are guilty of "Autohitting". Like Godmodding it's looked down upon. *words in asterisks*: Words in asterisks usually indication an action. For example a player may type; *opens their pack and retrieves a scroll* This is a way of performing actions the game won't let you perform normally. -words in dashes-: Not commonly used but can be used to indicate a character's thoughts. For example; -Hmm, it seems that this stranger has more to him than meets the eye- Cybering: Most RP's don't allow cyber or any kind of explicit sexual content in an RP. Although this is usually down to the thread creator and some tolerate nudity and above the shirt action. Heavy petting and full blown sex scenes aren't for everyone's pallet. It's best to avoid this. Outlines Even with all the above help, actually jumping into this is all very over-whelming. This guide was created to help organise your racing mind, and to help you to decide on where to start. I personally like custom making this guide, because it limets creativity, but this guide helps first time role-players a lot. *Username: *Name: *Nickname: *Age: *Race: *Strength: *Weapon of Choice: *Magical Ability: *Personality: *History: *Appearence: references. http://services.runescape.com/m=forum/c=fUnN3GkcNp4/forums.ws?237,238,33,61061411 http://forums.quizilla.teennick.com/showthread.php?t=5505